Apparatus and method for packaging

ABSTRACT

Bundles of steel sheet are packaged by folding a steel sheet around them. A bundle is placed on a sheet larger than the base of the bundle. The ends of the sheet are clamped by clamps carried on pivoted folding arms. Hydraulic cylinders tension the sheet by urging the clamps away from the pivoted ends of the arms. The arms are then moved so that the clamped ends of the sheet move up and over the end of the bundle so as to form fold lines in the sheet along the edges of the bundle.

United States. Patent 1191 Reed 1451 Apr. 3, .1973

54] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR 2,831,303 4/1958 Hollis ..53/21& xPACKAGING 2,891,365 6/1959 1mm ..53/19s R x Inventor: Geoffrey RonaldReed, London, En-

gland The British Iron and Steel Research Association, London, EnglandFiled: Apr. 13, 1971 Appl. No.: 133,576

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data July 21, 1970 Great Britain..24,649/70 U.S. c1. ..53/3, 53/198, 53/209 1m. 01 ..B65b 11/02, B65b49/10 Field of Search ..53/32, 33, 3, 209, 210, 218,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1910 Peck ..53/218 PrimaryExaminer-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. Assistant Examiner-E. F. DesmondAttorney-Bacon & Thomas 571 I ABSTRACT Bundles of steel sheet arepackaged by folding a steel sheet around them. A bundle is placed on asheet larger than the base of the bundle. The ends of the sheet areclamped by clamps carried on pivoted folding arms. Hydraulic cylinderstension the sheet by urging the clamps away from the pivoted ends of thearms. The arms are then moved so that the clamped ends of the sheet moveup and over the end of the bundle so as to form fold lines in the sheetalong the edges of the bundle.

10 Claims, 7, Drawing Figures PmEmEmPna 1915 3,724,159

sum 3 0F 5 IN VE N TOR GEOFF-RE Y Ab/VAL 0 R550 BY ,gmz W APPARATUS ANDMETHOD FOR PACKAGING Bundles of sheet steel which have to be transportedparticularly when being exported, are usually protected by a steel boxconsisting of a bottom tray and a separate lid. These boxes arepresently made to fit each individual bundle.

An object of this invention is to simplify the packaging of bodies suchas bundles of sheet steel.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus forfolding a sheet of packaging material around a body including:

a. a support for a generally rectangular body seated on a packagingsheet larger than the baseof the body;

b. a folding member having clamping means for clamping one end of thesheet when a body is seated on the sheet on the support and tensioningmeans for applying a tension to the sheet between the body and saidclamped end; and

0. means for moving the folding member so that the sheet is folded overone end of the body and over the upper surface of the body.

Preferably the folding member is mounted for pivotal movement withrespect to the support, and preferably the clamping means is movablealong the length of the folding member towards and away from the pivotedend under the action of the tensioning means.

With apparatus according to the invention sheet metal projecting fromunder one end of the body to be packaged can be folded up and over thatend. Tensionrg ensures that the packaging metal has fold lines formed init along the edges of the body. To form fold lines in sheet metal usedfor packaging has previously involved beating it to shape by hand andthis is avoided with the apparatus of the invention.

The apparatus can advantageously include a second folding member havingclamping means for clamping the other end of the sheet and tensioningmeans for applying a tension to the sheet between the body and saidother end of the sheet as well as means for moving the second foldingmember so that the sheet is folded over the other end of the body andover the upper surface of the body. With such an apparatus the packagingsheet can be folded more or less simultaneously over both ends of thebody.

Apparatus for folding the packaging material on to the sides of the bodydoes not form a part of this invention and can for example be as shownin U.S. co-pending patent application Ser. No. 22,189.

Preferably both folding members are mounted for pivotal movement withrespect to the support and preferably the pivoted end of at least one ofthe folding members is movable along the support towards and away fromthe pivoted end of the other folding member so as to be able to packagebodies of different sizes. The support is preferably a conveyor alongwhich a body seated on a packaging sheet is delivered, and along whichthe partly packaged body is moved away to the next packaging step.

The apparatus may include a support or abutment member for at least oneend of the body, which can be moved to a position against the end of thebody while the sheet is being folded over the other end of the body. Ifthe body is a bundle of sheets this will prevent the sheets slippingover one another as the packaging sheet is folded around one end.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided amethod of partially wrapping a generally rectangular body with a sheetof metal including the steps of clamping one end of a metal sheet whichis larger than the base of the body and on which the body is seated,applying a tension between the clamped end of the sheet and the body andmoving the clamped end with the sheet tensioned up and over the end ofthe body so as to form fold lines in the sheet along the edges of thebody. Preferably the method includes clamping the other end of the metalsheet, applying a tension between said other clamped end of the sheetand the body, and moving said other clamped end with the sheet tensionedup and over the end of the body so as to form fold lines in the sheetalong the edges of the body, resulting in the ends of the sheetoverlapping one another at the top of the body.

The method may also include the step of holding a support member againstone end of the body as the sheet is folded over the other end.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of apparatus according tothe invention shown by way of example;

FIG. 2 is a side view of part of the apparatus of FIG.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are details of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of part of another embodiment of theinvention, and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a body partially packaged in accordancewith the invention.

A conveyor 2 for conveying rectangular bundles 3 of sheet steel to bepackaged has two folding members 4, 5 connected to it to provide anapparatus for folding sheet steel packaging material 6 around bundles 3.The bundles 3 are conveyed towards the folding members 4, 5 after havingalready been seated in the middle of a packaging sheet 6 larger than thebase of the bundle 3 either by hand, or by some other apparatus. Thedimensions of the sheet 6 are chosen in relation to the bundle size.

Each of the folding members 4, 5 includes two arms 7 pivoted on a commonaxle 8, one on each side of the conveyor 2. The arms 7 are angled attheir pivoted ends. The axles can be rotated by hydraulic actuators 9 soas to pivot the folding members 4, 5. The pivoted end of the foldingmember 4 is movable along the conveyor 2 towards and away from thepivoted end of the folding member 5 to enable different sizes of bundle3 to be packaged. For this purpose slots 10-are provided in the conveyor2, and the actuator 9 can be moved along the conveyor 2 by rotating athreaded spindle ll co-operating with a threaded sleeve 12 connected tothe actuator (see FIG. 3). The spindle 11 is rotated by an electricmotor 13.

Each of the folding members 4, 5 has a clamp 14 extending between thetwo arms 7 and pivotally mounted to the arms 7 so that the clamp 14 canrotate about its longitudinal axis. The bearings 15 which support theclamp 14 are arranged to move in slots 16 along the length of the arms 7by means of hydraulic cylinders 17 within the arms 7.

As can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5 each clamp has two jaws 18, 19 pivotedto one another on a common spindle. A hydraulic cylinder 20 is pivotedat one end to lugs 21 rigid with the jaw 18 and at the other end to lugs22 rigid with the jaw 19. By supplying pressurized fluid to one end ofthe cylinder 20 the jaws 18, 19 can be made to open and by supplyingpressurized fluid to the other end of the cylinder 20 the jaws 18, 19can be made to close. The jaw 18 has a downwardly extending lip 23 atits mid point for a purpose to be described below. To prevent the lip 23contacting the rollers 24 of the conveyor 2, there is a recess 25 at themid point of each roller 24 that could otherwise be contacted by the lip23.

In operation, with the folding member 5 raised and the folding member 4lowered as shown in FIG. 1, the bundle 3 which has already been placedin the middle of the packaging sheet 6 is advanced along the conveyor 2and is stopped with the tail end of the bundle in line with the axle 8of the folding member 5 as shown in FIG. 2. The folding member 4 is nowmoved by rotating the threaded spindle 11 until the axle 8 is in linewith the front end of the bundle as shown in FIG. 2. The folding member5 is then lowered and the clamps 14 on both folding members are broughttowards the free ends of the packaging sheet 6 by actuating thepneumatic clyinders 17. Simultaneously the hydraulic cylinders areactuated to raise the jaws 19. The lips 23 will guide the free ends ofthe sheet 6 over the lower jaws 18 and the cylinders are then actuatedto lower the jaws 19 and to clamp the ends of the sheet 6.

The cylinders 17 are now actuated so as to place the packaging sheet intension. The folding members 4 and 5 are now rotated until they are bothvertical. The member 4 is now held in the vertical position while themember 5 continues to rotate as shown in FIG. 2 until it can move nofurther without the clamp 14 touching the top of the bundle 3. Duringmovement of the folding member 5 over the body the clamp 14 rotates toallow for the changing angle that the end of the sheet makes with thearms 7. The clamp 14 of the folding member 5 is now disengaged and thefolding member 4 is rotated out of the way of the folding member 4 whichis rotated until its clamp 14 is about to touch the top of the bundlewhereupon the clamp is disengaged. The tension in the sheet 6 ensuresthat fold lines are made in the metal sheet 6 along the edges of thebody 3.

The bundle 3 is now partly wrapped with the ends of the sheet 6overlapping as shown in FIG. 7 and travels along the conveyor to thenext packaging step which formsno part of this invention, but which canbe as shown in US. co-pending patent application Ser. No. 22,189. Themembers 4 and 5 are now returned to the positions shown in FIG. 1. 4

The pneumatic cylinders 17 are loaded at a constant pressure so thatthey retract or extend to allow the clamps 14' to follow thenon-circular arc of the end of the packaging sheet 6 as it is foldedaround the end of the bundle.

The operation can be controlled by the operate from a simple controlpanel situated nearby.

It is found that if the apparatus is used to package bundles of smallsheets the step shown in FIG. 2 may cause the sheets to slip over oneanother so that the bundle as seen from the side assumes the shape of aparallelogram. This is less likely to happen with large sheets becausethe contact area between the sheets is greater and therefore .frictionresisting slipping is greater. In order to prevent any possibility ofslipping the apparatus can be modified as shown in FIG. 6. Each of thearms 7 is spaced from the conveyor 2 and a sup port device 30 is mountedon each axle 8 between the arm 7 and the conveyor 2. FIG. 6 shows onlyone of the four devices 30 and omits the folding arm 7 for clarity. Eachdevice 30 includes an abutment member or arm 31 .pivoted to a plate 32.An hydraulic cylinder 33 interconnects the plate 32 and abutment arm 31,and actuation of the cylinder 33 will cause the arm 31 to pivot from aposition to the side of the conveyor 2 to a position above the conveyor2. The length of the arms 31 is chosen so that the arms 31 on oppositesides of the conveyor 2 nearly touch each other. It will be seen thatthe devices 30 associated with the folding member 4 will move along theconveyor 2 together with the folding member 4 when the position of thefolding member 4 is adjusted.

The method of use is the same as for the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 up tothe stage when both folding member 4 and 5 are in the vertical position.Before proceeding to the position shown in FIG. '2 the abutment arms 31are brought into contact with the ends of the bundle 3. As the foldingmember 5 moves across to the position shown in FIG. 2 the arms 31 at theleft hand end of the bundle abut the end of the bundle and prevent thesheets from slipping over each other under the tension in the sheet 6.Similarly when the folding member 4 continues its movement the arms 31at the right hand end of the bundle restrain the bundle againstslipping. The abutment arms 31 are moved out of the path of the bundlewhen the folding is complete.

The method described above of partly packaging bodies with steel sheetis surprisingly simple considering the difficulty of handling sheetpackaging material. The method is more effective and quicker thanmethods currently used.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for folding a sheet of packaging material around a bodyincluding:

a. a support for a generally rectangular body seated on a packagingsheet larger than the base of the y b. a folding member having clampingmeans for clamping one end of the sheet when a body seated on the sheetis on the support, and tensioning means for applying a tension to thesheet between the body and said clamped end, and

c. means for moving the folding member so that the sheet is folded overone end of the body and over the upper surface of the body.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the folding member ismounted for pivotal movement with respect to the support.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the clamping means ismovable along the length of the folding member towards and away from thepivoted end under the action of the tensioning means.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further including:

a. a second folding member having clamping means for clamping the otherend of the sheet and tensioning means for applying a tension to thesheet between the body and the other end of the sheet and b. means formoving the second folding member so that the sheet is folded over theother end of the body and over the upper surface of the body.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which both folding members aremounted for pivotal movement with respect to the support'and the pivotedend of at least one of the folding members is movable along the supporttowards and away from the pivoted end of the other folding member.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the clamping means ismounted on its folding member so as to be able to rotate as the foldingmember moves over the body.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including an abutment member for atleast one end of the body, the abutment member being adapted to be movedto a position against the end of the body while the sheet is beingfolded over the other end of the body.

8. A method of partially wrapping a generally rectangular body with asheet of metal including the steps of clamping one end of a metal sheetwhich is larger than the base of the body, and on which the body isseated, applying a tension between the clamped end of the sheet and thebody, and moving the clamped end with the sheet tensioned up and overthe end of the body so as to form fold lines in the sheet along theedges of the body.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 including clamping the other end ofthe metal sheet, applying a tension between said other clamped end ofthe sheet and the body, and moving said other clamped end with the sheettensioned up and over the end of the body so as to form fold lines inthe sheet along the edges of the body, resulting in the ends of thesheet overlapping one another at the top of the body.

10. A method as claimed in claim 8 including the step of holding anabutment member against one end of the body as the sheet is folded overthe other end.

1. Apparatus for folding a sheet of packaging material around a bodyincluding: a. a support for a generally rectangular body seated on apackaging sheet larger than the base of the body b. a folding memberhaving clamping means for clamping one end of the sheet when a bodyseated on the sheet is on the support, and tensioning means for applyinga tension to the sheet between the body and said clamped end, and c.means for moving the folding member so that the sheet is folded over oneend of the body and over the upper surface of the body.
 2. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 1 in which the folding member is mounted for pivotalmovement with respect to the support.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2in which the clamping means is movable along the length of the foldingmember towards and away from the pivoted end under the action of thetensioning means.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further including:a. a second folding member having clamping means for clamping the otherend of the sheet and tensioning means for applying a tension to thesheet between the body and the other end of the sheet and b. means formoving the second folding member so that the sheet is folded over theother end of the body and over the upper surface of the body. 5.Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which both folding members aremounted for pivotal movement with respect to the support and the pivotedend of at least one of the folding members is movable along the supporttowards and away from the pivoted end of the other folding member. 6.Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the clamping means is mountedon its folding member so as to be able to rotate as the folding membermoves over the body.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including anabutment member for at least one end of the body, the abutment memberbeing adapted to be moved to a position against the end of the bodywhile the sheet is being folded over the other end of the body.
 8. Amethod of partially wrapping a generally rectangular body with a sheetof metal including the steps of clamping one end of a metal sheet whichis larger than the base of the body, and on which the body is seated,applying a tension between the clamped end of the sheet and the body,and moving the clamped end with the sheet tensioned up and over the endof the body so as to form fold lines in the sheet along the edges of thebody.
 9. A method as claimed in claim 8 including clamping the other endof the metal sheet, applying a tension between said other clamped end ofthe sheet and the body, and moving said other clamped end with the sheettensioned up and over the end of the body so as to form fold lines inthe sheet along the edges of the body, resulting in the ends of thesheet overlapping one another at the top of the body.
 10. A method asclaimed in claim 8 including the step of holding an abutment memberagainst one end of the body as the sheet is folded over the other end.